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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23076826">You're Not Alone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonDjinn/pseuds/CinnamonDjinn'>CinnamonDjinn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Final Fantasy AU, Friendship, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:13:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,564</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23076826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonDjinn/pseuds/CinnamonDjinn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It only took half an hour and a trip off-planet to upend everything Takashi Shirogane, Garrison ex-lieutenant and Knight Guardian of the Prince of Arus, ever knew. Suddenly he finds himself broken down by the Daibazaalan witch Haggar after her attempt to extract his soul before being cast into the depths of her castle to wither away like a defunct toy. At least there, he thinks, he's far enough away from his former friends to keep them safe from his fate as Earth's destroyer (assuming Haggar hadn't already replaced him). But he's about to find out those "former" friends aren't planning on letting go of him that easily.</p>
<p>A Voltron-ified retelling of one of the most iconic scenes in Final Fantasy IX.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allura &amp; Coran &amp; Hunk &amp; Keith &amp; Lance &amp; Pidge | Katie Holt &amp; Shiro, Keith/Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You're Not Alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was my first ever Twitter thread story, cleaned up and embellished a bit for your perusal. Please enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A puppet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was nothing more than a puppet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And a clone none the less - just one of the many copies that populated this bizarre world known as Daibazaal. Copies that would likely someday replace him as Haggar's Champion of Death, just as he had been meant to replace Lotor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro groaned from where he sat slumped on the gigantic throne he had been placed upon, drained from whatever the sorceress had done to his quintessence, to his soul. Too tired to open his eyes, his mind a maelstrom of thoughts within a fog of confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Who was he..?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What was he even doing here...?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was so hard to think straight...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He thought he could hear a voice on the wind in his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Shiro!'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro... Yeah, he was called that once. Back when he was just a lieutenant in the Garrison ranks. Back when he thought he was just a simple human with simple problems, like figuring out what he was going to eat for dinner, or whether he should abandon his duties as a knight of Arus in favor of absconding with the young, fleeing prince he had sworn to protect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Why do you always have to push yourself?' another voice complained, different from than the one that had sounded before. He recognized the marksman's inflection almost immediately and scoffed in self-derision.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why do you even care, Lance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'It's like you only ever care about the mission. What about my brother?!'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pidge... I tried to protect him... I tried to do right by the team... But I couldn't do either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Figures you'd be hard so on yourself even when it's not your fault...'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>… Not my fault...? Allura...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It's because of you I'm not so afraid of traveling the world anymore, Shiro.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yeah, right, Hunk... Like I ever did anything for you...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The first of the paladins to bond with their lion summon! That's no simple feat, Number One!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I didn't do anything! I didn't even try...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'We're not just a team, Shiro. We're friends, too, right?'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Friends...? Lance...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'You saved him... You saved Matt! Thank you, Shiro...'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>...Did I...?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Shiro!'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keith...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'If I hadn't met you, my life would have been a whole lot different.'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm so... tired...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Just hang on, I'm on my way.'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There's nothing left...</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>...but an empty clone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shiro!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Who...?</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh quiznack please tell me he's breathing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>...Who...?</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shiro! Come on, wake up!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Black Paladin groaned as he roused and forced his eyes open, the light of the chamber he resided in doing nothing for his splitting headache. He pressed a palm to his skull as if it would numb the pain, swallowing down nausea while the room and the two paladins in front of him slowly came into focus.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hunk...? Pidge...?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh man,” the Yellow Paladin sighed in relief as they each backed off to give him space. “It took us forever to find you, and then when we did, it looked like you were dead!” He gnawed on his lower lip. “It didn't even seem like any of my White Wind spells were working.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The barrage of words startled him, his groggy brain barely keeping up with processing them. “I...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you okay?” Pidge asked, the agitated worry clear on her face. “You scared us, disappearing like that! Why the quiznak would you come to a place like this without us?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He forced himself to sit up despite his aching muscles and pounding head. “Why... are you here?” His voice, gruff from weakness and disuse, slowly began to get its edge back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why are we-? What do you think!” Pidge threw her arms in the air, exasperated. “We came to find <em>you</em>!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hunk put a steadying hand on her shoulder, the tension leaving her frame almost immediately. “What I think Pidge means to say is: you took off without a word right after discovering some pretty terrible news. And from the looks of it, things have only gotten worse. We just wanted to make sure you're okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro grasped the arms of the throne, pushing himself to stand even as his weakened limbs made his legs shake like a newborn calf. Once he was as firm on his feet as he could possibly be at the moment, he brushed past the two, taking slow, stumbling steps down the path.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You shouldn't have come. There's nothing worth finding here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pidge and Hunk shared an alarmed look before turning back. “What do you mean?” questioned Hunk. “Of course there is; <em>you're</em> here!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Green Paladin took a tentative step forward, approaching him like he were a startled cat about to flee – which perhaps he was. “Shiro, what's going on? What happened?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looked back over his shoulder at the two bewildered faces, the honest concern etched on their visages. They had come all this way... Somehow tracked him down even in an enormous place like this... just for him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It made him sick. He didn't deserve such kindness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He began down the path through the doorway, the gated edges peeling away to let him through. “Just leave me alone”, he groaned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shiro!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, come on man, can't we talk about this? We aren't going to leave without you-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I said,” he turned back, the pupils of his eyes glowing a vicious violet. “Leave. Me. Alone!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro stumbled through the doorway. The edges slammed shut as soon as he had passed through. It did not open again for Hunk or Pidge.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>With a hefty sigh, Shiro leaned back against the door, closing his eyes as he tilted his head onto the cool metal. He could faintly hear noise on the other side; his teammates were probably trying to find a way through. He knew he should have been concerned. They were his friends; they were stuck in there, probably for good if they couldn't get the door open on their own and no one came to their rescue. He should have cared – after all, isn't that what a good friend does?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was anything but.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All this time he had thought he had been someone of honor, someone of value, the kind of person his squad at the Garrison, his friends in Voltron could depend upon. But it was all a lie. There was nothing good about him. He had been a wolf in sheep's skin, passing time in supposed harmony when in reality he was the harbinger for Earth's end. Or at least he had been.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now he was nothing more than a weak and empty vessel for Haggar's witchcraft – a tool lacking any meaning until it was finally used. He had nothing left but to wait for the sorceress to find a new purpose for him, whatever that may be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sounds of cracking leather on steel and fluttering wings drew him from his thoughts, forcing him to reluctantly open his eyes. He had been completely negligent to even scan the room he had entered, foolish in such a hostile place. But who could expect anything more from him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The room was poorly lit, but even in the dull light there was no way he could miss the ethereal silver of Allura's hair or the cerulean glow of her Queen's Whip as it wrapped around her opponent's forearm. He watched as the sentry - some sort of metallic, bipedal insect - tugged hard, pulling the Altean princess off kilter before letting loose a maelstrom of wind from its luminescent wings. The attack ripped the whip's hilt from the young woman's hands and sent her tumbling back like a skipped stone, though she wasted no time rising to her feet to resolutely stare the creature down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You'll have to do more than that to defeat me!” She growled before charging forward once more. The creature went to swipe one of its scythe-like appendages but she deftly rolled under it, snatching her fallen whip in the process and ending in a kneel on the other side of the monster. That was when she noticed him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shiro!” Allura called, a bright smile overtaking her stern features. “You're alright!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ex-lieutenant frowned, taking a few listing steps toward her. “Allura...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come on!” She called as she side-stepped another of the sentry's attacks, maneuvering so she was back on his side of the room. “I could use some assistance. The irony,” she sniffed petulantly, “considering I was coming to save you before I got waylaid.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a valiant effort, he thought, considering that her whip was doing little to dent the monster's armor. No surprise really, since its alchemical properties were meant to be most effective against magical beings, not a solid wall of steel. No, what was surprising was that she was here and all by herself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>...Had she really come all this way alone just for him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro scoffed. He couldn't see why she would. The Altean princess had enough on her plate, what with her entire kingdom having been recently destroyed in the war. She had <em>real</em> problems, unlike him, and there was no sense in someone as valuable as her wasting effort on a broken, worthless soldier.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The white mage probably just had tagged along with the others. After all, it wasn't like they were friends.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still, he couldn't stop himself from powering up his enchanted arm and approaching her side as they each stared down the monster who roared in response. It was like Shiro was on auto-pilot, going through the motions of muscle memory built from the numerous battles they had faced together. As he charged forward, Allura threw a billowing cloud of light from her bare hand, her magic rending the creature blind and allowing him to deliver a few critical strikes with ease despite his exhausted state. She followed behind him with her whip in hand to join the fray.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It seemed all for naught however. Together they had managed to wear the creature down, but delivering a final blow was proving difficult. The monster had taken to the air and neither of them had the range to reach it. Allura's white magic might have protected them, but it offered little in the offensive. Meanwhile, the sentry summoned another gale that easily knocked them both prone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is fruitless,” growled the princess as she pushed herself up to her knees. Shiro said nothing in return, only blankly staring at the creature as it readied itself to dive bomb their position.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was tempted to just let it do so. After all, the fight was pointless, and he was so tired...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Ugly!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The creature didn't have the time to even turn before a loud bang echoed throughout the chamber; it squealed in pain as one of its wings erupted into shards, sending the monster slamming into the ground below it. Shiro and Allura picked themselves back up to their feet only to see their savior on the other side of the thrashing sentry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Looks like you two could use some help,” Lance grinned as he gestured the ruby sniper rifle resting on his shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You're late!” Allura called back, her annoyed tone softened by an equally relieved smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry, got lost while we were searching – this place is like a quiznaking maze.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While the two idly bantered, Shiro took the opportunity to leap forward, delivering a brutal Dolphin Punch to the creature's skull. It gave one more thrash before finally stilling, its remaining wings slowly fluttering to the ground. The battle finished, he felt the energy the adrenaline had provided him evaporate. It felt like a struggle to even stand, his body slumping in fatigue once more as he fought to catch his breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shiro!” Lance called as the young gunsman jogged over. “Nice work on that final blow, man. But we've been looking everywhere for you! Why'd you run off without us?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please, Shiro,” Allura implored, taking a tentative step toward him and reaching out for his shoulder. “Whatever is wrong, we can help.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stumbled backward before she could touch him, shaking his head. “Look, I appreciate it – really – but there's nothing anyone can do. Just let me go.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lance's jovial expression sobered. “Shiro...” His voice was uncharacteristically soft. “You know you can talk to us about anything, right? You don't have to deal with this by yourself.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro staggered back a few more steps toward the exit, sighing as he stared at the floor, too ashamed to meet their gazes – he couldn't bear to see the disappointment in the eyes. “Please, I don't want to cause you all any more trouble.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Allura and Lance could only share a concerned look as their once-leader limped out of the room, the door shutting behind him with a resounding thud.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The metal door had hardly slammed shut before Shiro slumped back into it, feeling winded and drained. Even so, for some reason it didn't seem so difficult anymore to keep from doubling over; he would have thought the battle would have weakened him terribly, leave him prone on the cold, hard floor unable to move, yet there was a fluttering ..something.. in his chest that urged him to press on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It couldn't have possibly been a soul – he didn't have one anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So then what was it? Trepidation? Exasperation?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>...Hope?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ex-lieutenant shook his head with a groan; it didn't matter. None of it mattered. Even as he pushed off the door and resumed his tired shamble through the enormous chamber he had just entered, Shiro acknowledged that he had no plan, no driving reason for his idle traipsing through the maze-like corridors of castle Sincline. Nothing but a defective puppet with no further purpose, yet for some reason he couldn't bring himself to stop. Maybe he would just keep walking until he just couldn't any longer – an unremarkable ending for an unremarkable being. It would certainly be fitting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Fate wouldn't even grant Shiro that small boon as the sound of wind across leather and an ear-piercing screech filled the room. He had hardly made any progress along the path before the culprit slammed into the ground in front of him, shaking the floor and blocking the way out. It was as monstrous as the first creature, some unholy amalgamation of a horse and a bat. It rustled its leathery blade-sharp wings and stamped its steel hooves as it screeched once more, throwing its head back in a way that caused the light to catch on the spear-like horn on its forehead. A premonition of what was to inevitably come, perhaps.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro had barely taken a battle stance before the creature charged forward, the razor wings slicing through the space his head once occupied as he rolled underneath it with a dexterity he didn't know he still had. Still, it mattered little as the monster pressed on, charge after passing charge effortlessly wearing him down. It then took to the air and called forth a maelstrom of wind that callously slammed him into the ground like a bug swatted from the air. The violent gusts continues to pound into him, each blast pressing him further into the floor and rendering him immobile. All it would take would be a quick dive on the creature's behalf or one of its beastly peers to wander by and that would be the curtain call for his story.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And something <em>did</em> wander by, but not what he expected - nor the beast, given that it had left its flank unguarded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A sudden cackle of lightening filled the room with a magenta glow, crashing through the demon and over his head. It screamed in pain and ceased its attack in favor of ascending up and away from the new threat. Groaning, Shiro carefully pushed up from his prone position to look across the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There stood Keith, his right hand still filled with shuddering energy, his left tightly grasping his extended Luxite Blade, a look of feral and dangerous promise etched on his visage as he watched the beast flee. The moment he lowered his gaze and caught Shiro's bewildered one, his expression immediately melted in a soft mix of worried relief. The spellblade wasted no time sprinting across the room to Shiro's side, sliding at the very end into a kneel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No one's ever won a battle laying down, old timer,” Keith joked, the teasing tone not hiding his concern in the least as he rested one hand on Shiro's good shoulder and the other on his back, soothing magic flowing from Keith into the knight's battered body, washing away his bruises.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Keith...” Shiro breathlessly whispered in disbelief. He couldn't bring himself to ask the same 'why are you here' question he gave the others, having finally realized that the question he had been truly meaning to ask this whole time was really 'why would you think I'm worth fighting for?' Regardless, any sort of question would have to wait – not a moment after the last of Keith's transfer healing spell (a twist on his drain spell that Allura had helped him create) had completed, the rustling of wind over wings was back as the monster from before returned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come on,” Keith muttered as he helped his bodyguard to his feet, light-heartedness gone. “If this is how you want to deal with the situation, then let's get it over with.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Between the two of them, with Keith's druidic black magic forcing the creature to the ground and within Shiro's strike range, it hardly took any time for them to dispatch the horse-bat-like monster. It flailed in its death throes, it's wings falling like paper to the ground when it finally stilled. The remains of its final screeching call echoed off the chambers walls before finally letting the room return to its eerie, peaceful silence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two men worked to catch their breath before Keith turned away from the dead creature and back to the knight, his brow furrowed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shiro,” the prince of Arus began earnestly, his expression somber yet uncharacteristically gentle. “Why did you come here without us?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Count on Keith to just cut to the chase.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro shook his head sullenly as he deactivated his Galran Power Glove, watching the malevolent purple glow dissipate. He supposed it now made sense why he had carried the weapon for as long as he could remember. “Keith, please understand, all of this?” He motioned to the room around them, but Keith knew what he meant was far more reaching. “I'm a part of it all. I'm nothing more than a copy, a tool that's meant to destroy everything I ever knew and once cared for.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keith's expression grew more concerned. “Shiro, what are you talking about?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro's shoulders slumped, unable to meet his prince's fervent gaze. “Back at the village Kuron only touched the surface of what's all going on. Haggar told me... everything. She's trying to merge Altea with Daibazaal so that the Galran souls can live once more.I was made specifically to help speed up the process by wiping out everything on Altea. The only reason I haven't yet is because Lotor absconded me to Altea and abandoned me there hoping something would get rid of me so I wouldn't replace him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well a lot of good that's done for either of them,” the spellblade scoffed, shifting his weight into one of his hips. “It's obvious that Lotor's plan didn't work and Altea still exists - Haggar hasn't succeeded.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yet.” Shiro clenched his Galran hand into a tight, shaking fist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keith cocked an eyebrow. “What, have you decided you'd rather help her out?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro scowled as he quickly snapped his gaze back up at the raven-haired Blade.“I don't want to! But it's not about what I want – it's about what I was made for, what I'm meant to do!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Says who?” the smaller man challenged evenly. “Some old lady who's been too afraid to show her face until we came knocking on her door step?: Keith sneered. “Quiznack, I would have taken Lotor as a better answer - at least he's been operating <em>somewhat</em>out of the shadows.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you honestly think this is a joke?!” shouted the knight. In the back of his mind he couldn't remember the last time he had ever raised his voice, let alone ever at his prince. “Don't you get it, Keith? I'm just a chimera's hair away from having been the destroyer of Arus!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well I don't care about any of that!” Growled Keith in return, frustration clear in his posture as he swiped his hand through the air for effect. “It doesn't change anything! None of this defines you – <em>no one</em> can tell you who are unless you let them!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The look on Shiro's face became heartrendingly bleak and defeated. “But I don't even know who I am anymore. How can I even be a person if I don't have a soul?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keith's mouth shut so quickly and with such force that Shiro feared he might have shattered some his teeth. Then the younger man was briskly advancing on him, making the knight wonder for one brief second if the other was about to deck him (he'd seen it happen before to some other unfortunate individuals; their traveling across the Earth had certainly enabled the prince to show his rougher edges).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Instead, Keith stopped scant inches from him, his face nearly in Shiro's as he stared up with crossed arms and a glint of challenge in his eye. “Who's to say you don't have one? Haggar didn't make you join the Knights, nor did Lotor. They may have both had a hand in where your story began, but they had nothing to do with the chapters that came after. No one told you to help me escape Arus, or to push yourself to rise through the Knight's ranks, or to find the Super Soft for Pidge so she could save her brother.” Both the hard look in Keith's eyes and his tone softened. “So if <em>they</em>didn't tell you to do it, who did?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro searched for a response yet found none. “...I...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know what I think?” Keith pressed on. “I think whatever Haggar did or tried to do to you failed. You still have emotions, a free will. You laugh and cry and try and fail and succeed, and it's all because you choose to, because of who you are. All of that doesn't come from someone else.” He gently placed a hand on Shiro's chest, over his heart. “It comes from here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro couldn't help but clasp one of his hand's over Keith's, holding it tight like it was a lifeline – and maybe it was. He hung on every word as the latter continued. “It doesn't matter where you come from or who made you or why. What matters is what you are, what you'll be. And Shiro, no one, not some creepy hag witch, not even I can take that from you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You <em>do </em>have a soul, but it's up to you to decide what you intend to do with it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ex-lieutenant gaped openly, rendered speechless by Keith's words, Keith's touch. He found himself trying to blink back the sudden swell of tears in his vision. Slowly, a watery smile crept onto his face, a tender look in his eyes as he reached out to gently brush the prince's cropped hair behind one ear, the tips of his fingers lingering. “Keith...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You've been there every step of the way for us, Shiro,” the prince continued, the look in his eyes imploring in a way that was uncharacteristic for royalty yet so fitting for the man beneath the crown. He gently tilted his head into his knight's touch. “I'll never be able to thank you enough for not giving up on me when both Arus and Olkarion burned and I fell into despair, or your patience and support when I discovered my Marmoran heritage at the Gamora Ruins, or for relinquishing your station to help me flee from the Castle in the first place. But I don't think you realize that the entire time you've been there for all of us, we've been there for you too. While you're watching all of our backs we're watching yours. You don't have to deal with all of this alone. Please...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keith rushed in the last few inches between them, pulling the taller man into a tight embrace. “Don't shut us out. Let us help you.” He squeezed tighter, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “Let <em>me </em>help you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Keith...” There was little more the summoner of the Black Lion could do besides press the younger man he held so dear as close as he comfortably could. He couldn't stop himself from burying his face in the younger man's dark hair. There was no more need for words; everything he needed was right there in his arms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Prince Mullet's got it right for once!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two practically hopped away from each other as Lance strolled into the room (much to Keith's dismay if his low-pitched growl was anything to go by) with Allura by his side and Pidge and Hunk not far behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You're the one who taught us what it means to be a team, Shiro!" grinned Lance. "So maybe you should let us handle this as a team, yeah?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When I watched Altea be decimated from aboard the King's ship, I thought all hope for my people was lost,” Allura added as she stood by his side, smiling gently. “But because of your swift actions, many of my citizens were saved and now we'll be able to build anew one day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Matt's alive because of you, Shiro,” Pidge stated simply. “I'll never forget it. You're like a second brother to me. Even if you did leave me locked in a room with no way out." Her glasses glinted with light as she adjusted them thoughtfully. "Although Matt <em>did</em> do that to me once before when we were kids, so I guess that's arguably still brotherly.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Pidge, we need to have a talk on healthy sibling interactions.” Hunk shook his head before turning back to his team lead. “Shiro, I'd have stayed home if we had never met. And sure, we've seen some pretty horrible things that still gives me nightmares that I wish I'd never seen like witnessing four kingdoms get destroyed by a demonic ship from another world that's trying to assimilate our own, but I've also had the chance to really widen my experiences when it comes to the culinary arts. Not to mention all of the great people I've met, present company included. I'm not ready to give that up yet, even if it means taking on a thousand-year-old scary witch and her son.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shiro slowly looked to each of his teammates, searching for any sort of disappointment or falsity yet to his surprised relief finding none. Even though he had abandoned them and then pushed them away, they were still here. Still friends. He chuckled sheepishly as he ran a hand through his bangs with his other arm on his hip. “You're right. Everyone, I'm so sorry. From here on out, we're seeing this through together.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Together!” Lance, Hunk and Pidge cried as Allura cheered. Shiro turned to Keith and saw a vibrant smile laced with pride being sent his way. The knight couldn't help but return the grin before turning back, giving a sharp nod.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright team, let's finish this!”<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Fin</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For those interested, the Voltron team and their classes:</p>
<p>Shiro: Knight/Hand to Hand + can summon the Black Lion<br/>Keith: Black mage/swordsman + can summon the Red Lion<br/>Allura: White mage + can summon the White Lion<br/>Lance: Gunslinger + can summon the Blue Lion<br/>Pidge: Thief/Engineer + can summon the Green Lion<br/>Hunk: Blue Mage + can summon the Yellow Lion<br/>Coran: Chemist/Bard (he served as a scholar of the castle and then retired)<br/>Kosmo: Beast</p>
<p>I could be enticed to give up more details about the world of this AU; ping me on <a href="https://twitter.com/Omnidolor">Twitter</a> if you're interested!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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